Runaway
by Jiwwy
Summary: Draco's running away (for the twentieth time) and ends up in a muggle home. What will happen when he finds out it's Hermione's? Chapter Thirteen up and IT'S COMPLETE!! *bawls*!! Should I do a school continuation like Draco Veritas? Tell me pleeease!!
1. Draco's Away

** Runaway **

Chapter One

Lessee. I've just realized I never put a disclaimer on stories… Okay… here goes… This. Is. Not. Mine. Oh my god, I'm a genius. Well okay, what is mine? The plot, Lorelei and Carl Granger, the floppy the story's on, the Coke in front of me, and the sheet of paper I doodle on before writing this crap. All mine. What isn't mine? Draco and Hermy. Lucius and Ginny and Ron, this computer (my brother's) and this bottle opener my brother left here that is actually pretty damned fun to play with. There you have it. A disclaimer.

***

"Goddamnit," hissed the enraged father upon entering his son's room. The bed was bare, as was the chair by the fireplace, his son's favorite sulking spot. The room was freezing cold and few embers were left burning in the mantle. This really was no hint as to how long the boy had been gone; the room was always cold, the fire always meek. "He's run off again."

***

__

The best part of running away, thought a panting Draco Malfoy as he went down the street away from the muggle train station, _is finding a spot to hide._

He of course knew that wherever on earth he tried to conceal himself his father would always find him. Lucius Malfoy had always been an expert hunter, but Draco had had a lot of experience in hiding. This was a landmark occasion, his twentieth bout for freedom. His farthest so far had been his seventeenth, when last summer he'd managed to hide away in different parts of Muggle London for a week.

This time however, his allowance had bought him a ticket on the train to a smaller town near southern Liverpool, again mostly inhabited by Muggles. He wondered now where he might go. Usually he went for a park or some other public place, but Lucius had long since taken to looking there first, so Draco'd thought he might look for a Muggle home to actually stay in. A beautiful idea really, Lucius would never guess that his prejudiced little boy would even think of such a hideous thing. Draco might make two weeks this time before he was apprehended. 

He looked up and down the street, not only thinking of who might take him in, but how he might _convince_ them to take him in. Muggles might be savage and disgusting, but they weren't completely stupid. Draco seriously doubted someone would take in this aristocratic fifteen-year old, with his smooth hair, condescending smirk, and handsome tie and jacket set with long black cloak. Hmm.

Okay, yes… he'd been stolen from… on the way to his sick grandmother's house! Eh, no, too cheesy.

Wait, yes, he'd been stolen from and… Ah… he'd been beaten? Yes…. _Good God, Draco, I love that mind!_ He grinned to himself, allowing a mental pat on the back. He grinned to himself, allowing a mental pat on the back. No, not only beaten, he had amnesia! 

He grinned quite smugly, proud of himself for reading Ways to Cure Simple Muggle Ailments… Or Make Them. With this foolproof plan, he dirtied himself up and went as far as to make a few small rips in his expensive cloak. With some fancy wandwork he conjured himself tear streaks and with a lot of good acting he worked himself up and starting hiccuping and coughing pitifully as though he'd been crying for hours straight.

What poor muggle could resist?

***

Lorelei Granger was rather pretty for a forty-five-year-old mother of a fifteen-year-old daughter. She had dark brown eyes and light brown hair that was always up in a loose bun. Being a dentist, she couldn't have her long, bushy hair down and in her work area.

Carl Granger had dark brown hair that was graying a little at his balding hairline, warm blue eyes, and a warm, white, straight smile.

Their daughter, Hermione, was away for a week at the home of Arthur and Molly Weasley. She'd be home tomorrow afternoon, and this couldn't come too soon for Lorelei and Carl. Hermione was all they had, and even though the long terms at boarding school for Sorcerers was nearly unbearable to them, they knew it made her happy, which was really all any parents could want for their only child, their pride and joy.

Suddenly there was a knocking on the door.

***

"P-p-please. Let me in, good people." Draco called in a croaking voice that made him grin inwardly. He got a kick out of himself.

The door opened slowly and a woman opened the door. Her eyes had soft laugh lines next to them and she looked to be wearing no makeup. Both of these attributes would have made Narcissa Malfoy scream.

"Miss?" He smiled meekly.

"Oh god, dear boy, what's wrong?"

"I-" Draco paused. If one got amnesia in a fight would one remember being in a fight? "-I don't know."

The woman gripped the door frame, watching him closely. "You don't know… Dear, do you have a home?"

Draco stopped again, looked to be searching above his head for the answer. He responded slowly. "I don't know. I can't remember much. I just woke up across the street in the park there and found my wallet gone…" No, no, Draco, you don't know if you had a wallet. "I mean to say, there was a wallet tossed to the side… of me… and there was no money in it, but… but there was…" He fumbled for his real wallet with both hands in his now worn pocket. As he pretended to have trouble taking it out he slipped the fifty pound note he had exchanged earlier with a few galleons from his father's desk before he made off, out of the wallet and into the pocket. He then held out the wallet with a picture of his father and himself riding horses on the fields of the manor. "There was this picture in it?"

The woman studied it, and his face. "I'm afraid you've been mugged, love." _Muggled_? thought Draco. "You sure you don't know who you are? Who… Who this man is?" She pointed to his father and he shook his head fervently and she nodded. "Would you like to come in?"

"Oh could I really, Madame, I'd appreciate it so." He spoke with a lot of effort behind his words, sounding a bit cheesy and like Little Orphan Annie.

She finally opened the door wider and let him in. "Carl, honey, there's a boy out here, he's been robbed! Doesn't know where he is!"

A balding man got out of the armchair next to a blazing fire and took off his spectacles. "Gracious, is he alright, Lorelei?"

"I suppose." She patted Draco's silver-blonde locks down as if he'd had a cowlick and smiled solicitously as he fought down an urge to reach in a hidden pocket of his cloak and curse her on the grounds that no person but himself and maybe his father could touch his hair. Not that Lucius would ever want to but the thought of even the thought of Lucius Malfoy meant life in the chambers under the drawing room floor, and though it was close not even Draco's hair was worth that.

"Boy?" Carl said softly to Draco. "You don't remember your name at all?" 

Draco sighed and looked to be thinking hard. "Er, um, I think… I think… It was Neville." He half laughed at himself for being so stupid. Neville Longbottom was the first name to come to his mind. God forbid these people knew a thing about the Neville he knew and associated him with _that_. "Erm. Yes, that's it!"

Carl beamed proudly at Lorelei and back at Draco. "Great, that's good Neville, and… I'm just a dentist, I wouldn't know what to do in a case of amnesia… But it doesn't seem too serious if you could recall your name so fast then, does it. So, if you feel nice and well-" 

Lorelei looked worried and cut in. "Carl, what shall we do? He still hasn't an idea where he lives, do you love," Draco nodded again, "and I couldn't bear to let him back on the street, look at the condition of his coat, he's asking to be mugged again!"

Carl sighed. "I suppose… If you'd… Well… I suppose he could sleep in here tonight? Just to make sure he's alright, until he gets back his memory?"

Draco grinned broadly. Ten minutes later Lorelei and Carl were bustling about him, getting blankets and readying the sofa. Lorelei treated him far more like a son than Narcissa ever had done at home, patting his shoulders and bringing him hot chocolate. He supposed she might have tucked him in if Carl hadn't murmured it was time for them to go to bed and good night.

Draco lay on the sofa, which wasn't quite his huge bed at the manor but was still soft and comfy to him under layer of thick comforters (Lorelei has insisted he must be freezing after staying in the park for God knows how long), and chuckled happily at his exploits. Muggles were so damned trusting… but Lorelei was more than just accepting him, she actually seemed to like him. He was startled as he realized how alien this feeling was. Soft touches, warm smiles, friendly gestures… How unfamiliar that this was all so unprovoked. Yes, he could get this after a few galleons were flashed normally, but… 

But? Erm…

How much funnier it was to get this reaction by a prank!

A swooshing sound made him jump and he whipped his head around in reflex to the sound coming from the fireplace over his shoulder. It seemed he jerked too suddenly and he hit his head and shoulder on the coffee table as he fell off the couch. He yelled as he slid between the low table and the couch and was buried alive by the pounds and pounds of comforters.

***
    
    To be continued! *grin* You like?


	2. Hermione's Home

Thanks to Chaw and Woo for helping me out a bit on this chapter. *kissies*

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Chapter 2

***

Hermione Granger gasped as she stepped out of the fireplace. There was someone in her living room.

"Arrgh!" Came a yell from under a mass of comforters spilling out around the couch and coffee table. Hermione brushed ash off her skirt as she closed the distance between it and herself. She barely remembered to get her wand from her pocket as she stood next to the comforters. She highly doubted a burglar would be sleeping on her couch under her mother's quilts and spare bedspreads, but didn't know who else it could be.

She blinked, waiting for whoever it was to get the blankets sorted out, then finally kneeled and went to arranging them herself as she realized it would take quite a while.

"Help!" called a muffled voice from under a few feet of goose down, "it's not coming off!" 

"Don't move, I'm trying," she called down to the blanket, trying to find seams. "Oh, you've rolled just the wrong way." She sighed heavily and tapped her wand to the blankets. "_Praeparo_!" And the blankets removed themselves from the person, revealing… 

"Hullo."

"Malfoy!"

Draco stared up at the girl. She had bushy brown hair and straight teeth. Actually, she was rather pretty. 

"What are you doing in my living room?"

"Truth be told, I haven't the slightest." He smiled pleasantly. She looked very confused. "I think… I just know… my head hurts. Quite a lot."

Hermione furrowed her brow and stared down at Draco, working out what had happened easily in her head. He'd fallen and knocked his head on the table on the way down. From the way he talked, and the absence of the word 'mudblood' from every third word, told her he'd lost his memory. "Mum! Dad!" She yelled.

Draco giggled light-headedly to himself at the view. Hermione looked to see what was so funny and glared at him as she rearranged her legs, remembering she'd worn a skirt home from the Weasley's.

"Hermione? Is that you?" Carl Granger flicked the light switch and appeared in a navy robe. He chuckled. "I see you've met our guest… when did you get here, I thought you wouldn't be home until tomorrow?"

"Er, um," Hermione stared down at Draco as she addressed her father. "Well, Mister Weasley's mother had gotten very sick and they'd gone to visit her in America, they couldn't have stayed even another day and had to send Harry and I home… of course Mrs. Weasley had to give us so many gifts…." She pointed to her sweater, which was lavender with a quill set behind a powder blue 'H' and a box of chocolates next to her suitcase.

"Oh, we'll have to send them something back… Er, yes, this is Neville."

"Neville." Hermione repeated faintly. "Urm. Okay."

Draco looked around. "Where am I?" He said quite suddenly, turning to Carl.

Lorelei came in as he said this. "Oh dear, it's gotten worse… Hermione! You're home early!"

Hermione nodded. "H-How did… Neville get on the couch?"

Lorelei sighed. "He was robbed in the park and came out without his memory. We took him in." She looked down at Draco. "Neville, don't you remember how you got here? Do you remember me or Carl?"

He shook his head furiously.

"Dear… he should… he should probably stay awake, so he doesn't loose anything else." She smiled softly. "I'm so sorry, Hermione, but your father and I must be in the office by eight tomorrow. You wouldn't mind too much staying up with Neville, would you?"

Hermione stared. "Mother, really, I'm… I'm really _rather_ tired…" 

Lorelei shot her daughter a look. "_Hermione, _I would _really_ _like_ for you to help poor Neville," she said, he teeth gritted just barely.

"Fine!" Hermione said in a rather un-Hermione-like pouty tone that almost every young girl saves just for her parents.

Carl smiled weakly between the mother and daughter. "Lorlei, dear, why don't we go to bed then?" he waited until she left and sighed. "Now… don't you two try anything under our noses." He winked and left, leaving Hermione feeling mildly disgusted. Draco just sat with a dubious look. 

"Draco, you really can't remember anything."

He shook his head. "I thought my name was Neville."

"Where did you pick that up?"

"Those people called me that, didn't they?"

Hermione sat down next to him on the couch and put a finger to her lip, wondering what on earth Draco had done. At first she'd thought he'd hit his head on the coffee table but this obviously wasn't the case. Her parents had found him without any idea who he was. "Drac- Neville. What can you remember?"

He stared at her, crossed his arms over his chest, and put his feet on the table. She raised an eyebrow and he coughed and put his feet down. "I remember…" he closed his eyes, "gold on a table, and putting paper in my pocket… ripping cloth… running and cold… and that lady."

"That's it?"

"That's it…"

Hermione bit her lip, running this through her head. "Ripping cloth?" She thought aloud.

"Yes, I was ripping something black."

"You were." She held up a tattered edge of his cloak. "Was it this?"

Draco stared at it. He put one hand on it, put his other hand over hers. He didn't move it, even though she blushed. "I… I think so," he finally said, then took his hand off hers.

"Okay. You remember ripping your own cloak. That makes sense." She stared at the cloak, then at his face. There was dirt on both. "The bathroom's over there if you'd like to wash… off… Why are you staring at me?"

"Dunno. You're pretty..." Hermione blushed. "… You're… familiar… I think I remember you."

"You do? Really? That's good. Now, what do you think of me?"

"Hermione." He repeated the name her parents had called her. "Hermione… your teeth. They were big."

Hermione looked very flustered, but a little bit pleased. "Yes, I used to have big teeth. You remember. That is the first thing you remember about me."

"You're smart," he added, as if an afterthought.

She stared. "Yes. I- I mean, er, I suppose." She blushed again.

"Hermione…" he repeated. "Hermione… did I like you?"

Hermione stared at him, frozen a little. She felt a chill run through her as she stared at his silver eyes. For once they were a bit warm, not closed off and biting. His mouth wasn't twisted into the scowl he used especially for her.

"You… I… I don't know." She finally whispered.

He watched her carefully, and finally nodded. "I don't think I did. Back then."

"What about now?" she whispered again.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but nothing came out. He looked her up and down, from the powder blue skirt to soft lavender sweater to the lock of brown hair in her face. He pushed back for her and moved silently closer. She stared, breathing deeply and wondering what he was doing. He got an inch away from her face and studied her, his shimmering eyes darting around her face. She held her breath and closed her eyes, waiting for him, a voice screaming 'bad, no no!' in her ear that may have been her conscience, may have been Ron and Harry… then he suddenly paused and leaned back.

"I don't know you now," he murmured sadly.

***

AwwwwwwIsuck. *grins* Gonna have to wait for the next chappy, but in the meantime you could, I dunno, say, REVIEW!

Anywho, thank you to Delpi (you psychic bitch you), Zamber, Myst Enchantress, Baz, Keep of the Shattered Dreams, an those other crazy people. *grins again* Reviewers r0x0rz.


	3. *GASP* ...*ruins mood*

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Chapter 3 

***

He turned away and got off the couch. Hermione tried not to sigh and wondered what she'd been doing. This was _Draco Malfoy_, whether _he_ knew it or not, the one who'd constantly swore at her, who she'd punched, who was so cruel to all her friends and everyone who was weaker than him. Surely she hadn't just… if he'd… what if he had kissed her?

She shivered. "Are you hungry?" she called to Draco, who was carefully studying a book that rested on an armchair across the room. It was _Hogwarts, A History_. 

"I suppose… What is this?"
    
    She walked over to him. "You don't remember Hogwarts? Do you remember magic at all?" Hermione held out her wand to him. The same voice shrieked at her, reminding her that handing your own wand to Draco Malfoy was only a bit safer than dumping gasoline on an enraged skrewt. She ignored it.

He took the wand and ran his fingers down it. It was made of cedar and phoenix feather. "Yes of course, magic. I do know of it… I just can't remember, you know, spells and whatnot."

"Yes. I read a bit about amnesia in a book, years ago, you should remember some things. It might be a bit like a play. You can see the stages and remember a bit of plot, but the characters aren't there."

He nodded. "What about food, then?"

"Er, okay… I'm really not much of a chef, is cereal alright?" 

"Cereal?"

She looked at him sideways. "I suppose it'll be fine," she said as they entered the kitchen. Everything was sunshine yellow and deep navy with little splotches of green. Hermione motioned to a chair and he sat down as she went about the kitchen, lugging out milk and going through a lazy Susan in the corner for cereal. She smiled a little as she handed him the bowl and he stared at the cereal in it stupidly.

"Just fish out the crunchy stuff, you'll do fine. I don't suppose big pureblood families have cereal for breakfast?"

"Er, what?"

She smiled. "When we were at school—you go to school with me in Hogwarts, it's summer holidays now—you would go on and on about how you came from a long line of wizarding families. You thought it made you better than… well, than people like me, who come from non-magic families. Mind you," she said at the look on his face, "it's not true that that makes you better. May as well start your moral education over again, seems that you didn't have much of it before." She smiled wanly.

"Cor, was I very bad?"

"Don't make me answer that."

"Yes, don't think I will." He smiled again. She smiled back as he dropped his spoonful of cereal back into the bowl as he held the spoon wrong, then yawned. "Have you ever watched TV?"

***

Lucius never liked much to search for the damned boy on his own, but he wanted Draco to know that he simply couldn't run from his father. (Of course, not much could be said for the boy's intelligence level, he never quite caught on.) So usually Lucius would send out lower ranked Death Eaters to scout areas, and if there were any sign of Draco near there, Lucius would swoop down from the Mansion and grab the boy himself. 

He sighed, a sound that was a lot like a growl, and put his feet on the desk. Still no news. Sometimes he wondered why he even looked for him anymore.

***

Hermione yawned and opened her eyes. She mumbled something softly and shifted.

"'Morning," said Draco, and Hermione jumped as she realized where she was laying down. On Draco Malfoy's lap. She blushed furiously and jumped up. "What time is it? Draco, when did I fall asleep?" She looked over and saw the TV playing cartoons. 

"Erm, I'd say nine or ten, and you fell asleep only a couple of minutes after you showed me this. Quite amazing, I think. See, I learned how to get different things on the screen." He demonstrated, flipping the remote to and from a news show. 

"Wait, Draco, turn that back!"

He turned it to the news show again. A woman was on the screen, arranging papers while talking. "—still can't explain the strange events that have now seemed to have moved to North America with five attacks in the United States in the last month- the most recent taking place just last night in North Carolina." A screen appeared in the top left corner, showing a house with a skull and snake looming above it, casting the scene in ghastly green light.

"Oh my god… Ron's grandmother lived in North Carolina!"

"The United States CIA are now teaming up with the British Secret Sevice to try and find the cause of these phenomena." She sighed. "Back to you, Brett."

Hermione took the remote from Draco and leaned back, breathing deeply.

***

Oh noooo! *wonders if Ron's okay, because of course I never think these things out before they happen*

Thanks to Allison, Cute Sarah, Mercy, Zamber *Dracolicious, I love it ^_^*, JudgeDP, Myst Enchantress, Delphi again *runs away*, summerthyme, Draco's Queen *ponders stealing crown*, and, er… SOMEONE! for reviewing. 3 to you all, I wubboo.


	4. In the Woods

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Chapter Four

***

Ginny Weasley coughed and shifted. There was a horrible ache in her back and it took a while for her to remember why. "Oh my god," she moaned, as the events of last night unfolded again before her pained eyes. 

Coming to grandma's house, finding she wasn't even there…

She, Ron, and the twins staying behind to unload the suitcases while Mum and Dad went in to see what was wrong…

The sickening lurch she'd felt when she'd been going up the steps and… and green light enveloped the shadows of the empty house…

Empty but for her parents…

"George? Fred? Ron?" she called shakily, looking around.

Fred taking control, telling them to _run_ as soon as the flash went off, Ron waiting for Ginny, whom was slowest (this doesn't say much when the other three were highly athletic troublemakers, always on the run from teachers or Filch or in Ron's case: werewolves, Basilisks, and Voldemort's assorted henchmen), taking her hand and running, trying to comfort her at the same time… 

"Gin?" came a voice, Fred's or George's. A bright red head came into her line of vision. "Ginny, you okay?" the twin ran up to her, pushing her hair from her face, biting his lip.

"I'm fine. Just really sore." She sighed and tried to get up, finally realizing they were in woods. There was a huge stretch of wood going all around the small village Grandma lived in. Her eyes reluctantly focused on his shirt. Red. George had been wearing red last night. "Where are Ron and Fred?" she uttered finally as she managed to get to her feet. 

"They went off to look for a way out of the woods, I was supposed to find you." He smiled slightly.

"I thought you and Fred knew these woods like the back of your hands."

"The magic parts. We're trying to find a way to Muggle parts, just for now. You-know-who probably has this town staked by now."

Ginny followed him. "Why did He want us?"

George shrugged and stuffed his hands in his pockets. "Well, us Weasleys, we're supposed to be pretty smart." He smirked back at her. "Most of us at least." She smiled as he continued. "Seriously, you know, there _are_ a lot of us and, admittedly, we are pretty talented. The fact that dad loves Muggles couldn't hurt."

Ginny looked down. The next time she spoke, her voice shook. "George, do you… think maybe, Mum and Dad…"

Her brother looked very uncomfortable. "Gin, I'm sorry, but I don't think…"

She nodded, and shivered.

****

***

Draco watched Hermione as she calmly put her Mary Janes on the coffee table, then her head on her knees, and stayed there for quite a while, breathing deeply but obviously trying not to cry. "Hermione, should I… do you want me to… er… Who's Ron?"

She smiled to herself and spoke without moving. "Ron's… one of my best friends." She finally sat up and wiped a few stray tears away. "One time… you insulted me, and he tried to curse you but his… his wand backfired and he ended up belching slugs for an afternoon."

Draco didn't quite know how to take this.

Hermione turned and smiled at him. She took his hand. "Draco, it's okay. I don't blame you. I- I know now you're actually fairly decent."

"Thank you?" he finally said. She laughed, just a little. He realized she was shaking. "Are you okay?"

Nodding slowly, still with the smallest smile, she went to the window. "I'm just so… I don't know."

He looked up at her. Standing by the window, pale skin accentuated by her flushed cheeks, her dark hair falling around her in frizzy curls, her faint carnation lips. "You know… are you really sure that was where they were? There- there must be a million people in North Carolina."

Hermione nodded slowly. "I just keep thinking Hedwig will come. That's Harry's owl… Harry's my other friend."

Draco nodded slowly. "Are you hungry? I think I can make cereal now." He smiled smugly.

Hermione snorted.

****

***

Yay for Draco! Making cereal's a great accomplishment. *nods*

Thanks to Dragon's Gyrl, JudgeDP (YEAH! Mean him.), Baz again, Emaeleigha (I spelled it, I'm bright!), Myst Enchantress, Yum pop (aww, you're weird too. 3), HermioneG89 (sure did!), Lilith Witch, J , and delphi (sounds good. *awes*). 3 again, reviewers make me a happy Jiwwy.

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Happy 2002, Peoples! See how pathetic I am! I'm spending the first day of the year writing fanfics!!


	5. And Out of Them

A/N: YAY! Chapter five, all shiny, fresh, and altogether brand-spanking-new. Have fun kids, and REVIEW! *grin*

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**Chapter Five**

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Hermione was quite silent the rest of the day. At about noon she fell asleep on the couch again and Draco, who seemed to be suffering a bout of insomnia, decided to go around the house by himself.

Hermione's room was first. He hadn't even seen it yet. Everything was pale periwinkle or a book. He looked around the neat room and walked along the wall to her desk. There was a bookshelf set over it full of muggle books. The bookshelves were the only unorganized parts of the room. Draco assumed Hermione had given up on organizing them because she'd just take them back down again right after, and smiled to himself as he looked closer at the titles. _Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl_, _Lord of the Rings, _a student manual, and one called _Support Your Local Wizard. _Draco wondered what a wizarding book was doing with all these muggle books and took it out…

A smaller book came out with it.

He picked it up. _Diary._ Under that, in a neat, pretty handwriting: _-of Hermione E. Granger. January 1991-December 1992._

Draco stared at the cover, debating with himself. Even Amnesia Draco couldn't resist his instincts, and he sat down in Hermione's chair and opened the book to February 9th.

Diary- 

_                Valentine's Day is coming up. I don't think I can take it. They'll pull the pranks again, I know it. What I don't know is why. Admittedly, the 'secret admirer' cards worked when we were seven, but every year after that?_

_                I suppose they're just trying to remind themselves how great they are, like Mom said. I don't think it's that nice a purpose._

Hermione 

Draco stared at the page. People pranked Hermione? How mean. He flipped forward to October 31st. It was long.

Diary- 

_                Today has been… well, I'm not really sure what it has been, but it was something. It started out earlier after class. I was walking out with Harry and Ron in front of me when Ron said, and I quote, "It's no wonder no one can stand her. She's a nightmare, honestly."_

_                I felt like throwing up. It was muggle school all over again. It was all I could do to keep from crying right there.  I know maybe I overreacted, but… Well, you know how much that hurts._

Draco didn't. He did, however, feel quite a powerful urge to punch Ron.

                I went into the bathroom to cry… I knew if I went back to the dormitory Lavendar and Parvati would pretend to comfort me and then tell Ron. They did come in once, but I hid. I think maybe they heard me anyway… That's not what's important, though. Up in the Great Hall Professor Quirrel had come in, announced a troll in the dungeons, and fainted. Harry and Ron had been stupid enough to actually go and chase the troll while everyone else was being herded to the dormitories.

                I was about to go upstairs, when suddenly I heard the stomp of huge feet. I was just standing next to the line of sinks and saw it in the mirror. The troll. A door slammed, the troll ignored it. I ran to the back wall, trying to stay as small as I could. Trolls are terribly nearsighted, you know.

Draco didn't.

                Before I knew it, I heard a voice. I couldn't tell what he said, but another yelled "Oy, Pea brain!" it took a while for me to realize that the voice was Ron, talking to the troll. Ron was trying to save me.

                Most of what happened after that I don't remember, but I do remember Harry on the troll's back and Ron using a perfect levitating charm, if not a little forceful.

                They finally knocked it out and the professors came in. Against my better judgment I took the blame. Of course, I was the reason they were there, right?

                …Anyway…I think we're on better terms now.

-Hermione

He flipped about again. A spark of recognition hit him and forced him to read the December 17th entry.

Diary-

                Trouble with Malfoy again. I don't know why he's so mean to Harry. I don't know what happened when they met each other, but surely even if Harry had attempted to murder Malfoy and all of his family it wouldn't have caused this sort of meanness. He's been teasing him every chance he gets, even when he passes us in the halls, about how Harry isn't going home for Christmas break. He doesn't say anything, but I think it hurts Harry, even just the tiniest bit… how low could Malfoy go, insulting Harry's family like that?

-Hermione

Draco stared at the page for a few seconds, until he finally recognized the name Malfoy… It was his surname. He breathed deeply, just now noticing the picture in a frame on the desk. Hermione cradling the huge ginger cat he'd seen sulking about, kissing a black-haired boy on the cheek. A red-head was grimacing in the background as he struggled with a tiny, roly-poly owl. There was a lump in Draco's throat as he set the diary back down.

***

Ginny searched in her pockets for a pony-tail holder and looked around when she finally fished one out and put her hair back. Fred and George could certainly find their way around. They'd already found the quiet muggle town that lay just outside the forest. 

"Gin, come on," Ron said, taking off his cloak and putting it in his backpack, motioning for her to do the same. They got them stuffed in and she wiped a smudge of dirt off his nose. They had to look presentable when they ventured out into the muggle town after all.

The only place they'd been where there were more muggles than wizards was London, going to school at Hogwarts. And Hermione's house of course.

Fred and George were up ahead, waiting. They too had only jeans and tee shirts on. "Where exactly are we going to go?" Ron asked as he and Ginny approached.

Fred looked at George, who shrugged. "Post office, I suppose. Does anyone know Hermione's address? Not sure any other of our friends have addresses."

Ginny remembered a bit of it, she thought. She'd once spent the night at Hermione's house.

"The food store too. I'm hungry." Fred added as they broke out of the woods.

"None of us has muggle money." Ron said.

They searched their pockets again, just to make sure. Fred had a five pound note. Too bad none of them knew what this amounted to in galleons, let alone dollars.

"They have to let in a few poor bedraggled kids who've had no food for a full twelve hours, right?" Ron asked, staring down at the five-pound note. He smiled half-heartedly at Ginny as they entered the post office. Fred sauntered up to the lady behind a window. Fred sauntered naturally most places he went.

"What'll you have, kids?" she said, playing idly with a paperweight.

Fred hesitated. "Er…" he looked back to his siblings. "One moment." He turned and made a face at Ginny. "What address, Gin?"

She stared stupidly and shrugged. "Erm, I'm not sure of the town… but it's 508 Cherry Lane. Probably. If, er, if I had a map I could probably pick it out," she said, looking up at the woman, who nodded and handed her a little brochure-sized map of North Carolina. Ginny stared at it. "Er, it's in Britain."  

"Hence the accents," George called from the back wall.

"Bloody right, old chap. Cheers!" Fred called over his shoulder.

The lady raised an eyebrow. "You kids on vacation? Where're your parents?"

Ginny shook involuntarily and Fred coughed at the same time. The lady took off her spectacles. "I think we have some maps of Britain in here somewhere," she said softly, getting up and walking around a corner. Ginny bit her lip and looks around at Ron and George, now both leaning on the far wall in front of a poster advertising the different sizes of package holders and the values you could get for buying bigger ones. Ron smiled weakly at her.

A few seconds later the lady returned with another brochure. Ginny unfolded it and looked it up and down. "There." She pointed to the little dot right under Liverpool.

(A/N: Jiwwy has spent a good half-hour looking for any damned town within 400 miles south of Liverpool. By the Internet's response, there are none. *Clicks more* Make that within FIVE hundred…)

The lady studied the point where Ginny's bitten nail hit the paper for a bit, then smiled back at them for a bit. "Don't you guys have a letter?"

"Urm, we were kind of wondering if you had some parchment we could borrow." Fred said uncomfortably.

"Parchment?" She raised her eyebrow again.

Ginny glared. "He- means… paper."

The lady nodded slowly and handed them a pen and a sheet without looking at the stack. Fred stared at it while Ginny wrote out a short note. Ron and Fred came up to watch her. She'd taken Muggle Studies last year, but no one thought she'd actually get much use out of it.

Hermione-

                We need help. You-know-who-

-The pen shook, leaving a mark next to the name, recording the shivers that Ginny seemed to be having more and more-

                -intercepted us. Mum and Dad are gone. It's just the twins and Ron and I. We're fine but we have no money. Can't go back to Grandmother's. In muggle town. Please send help.

-Ginny, Ron, Fred and George

Ginny stared at the letter sadly before handing it to the lady. 

The lady took the sheet of paper and froze with it. None of the kids had seen, but she'd been reading it. She nodded softly as she folded it and put it in an envelope. Finally she spoke. "You don't have anywhere to go, do you?"

Ginny stared at her, then at Fred and George, who were watching each other.

George finally spoke. "I guess not?"

The lady nodded slowly. "Listen. I'll mail this, on the house. And… if you kids want a place to stay, I've got an extra bedroom back at my house. You could stay there for a while if you'd like."

Ginny nodded to Fred. Ron did too. "That sounds really nice. Thanks." He finally said once the twins exchanged their opinions in that way only twins have.

***


	6. Interlude With Pig

A/N: Does anyone else find it amazing that Ginny remembers Herm's address? I have trouble even remembering my grandma's… Okay, I'm overestimating myself, I have to check every time I'm asked for my own… ^_^;;; a heheh… Anyway, Ginny must have a very retentive mind— D'OH! I keep forgetting not to tell the readers I fill in my plot holes with PlayDoh… Did I say that out loud? Oh god… Eh, I'll shut up now.

Okay, just so you know, I merged Chapter 6/7, so …. Yeah. And, find 'Chapter 7' on yer own!

*******

**Chapter 6**

*******

Hermione was sleeping soundly, curled contentedly into the fetal position on the couch, when suddenly something slammed into the window. She shot up at the dull thunking noise and stared at the window. There was nothing there.

*******

Outside in the garden, a tiny ball of feathers sat up on its little talons. 

Pigwidgeon cocked his petite head and stared at the living room ceiling— all he could see inside the house. He hooted happily and flew back at it. 

Thonk.

He was back on the garden floor, now looking rather ruffled indeed. He glared at the living room ceiling, for not much could be said for the poor owl's intelligence and he still hadn't caught on to the fact that there was _a window there._ Even so, he found the ceiling rather inhospitable and waddled around the corner of the house, up the walkway, and right into Crookshanks' kitty door as though he knew exactly the route to take and had just been running into the window for fun.

He saw Hermione on the couch and pranced up to her with a little owl dance. He would recognize that hair anywhere! He'd hid there many times to escape from Ron of course. 

Pig hopped up on the couch, then on her temple. Feeling very proud of himself, he danced the dance again, and then finished it with a lively "HOO!"

Hermione jerked awake again, seemingly having a heart attack until pig jumped right on top of her sweater, flapping his wings happily. "Pig!" She shrieked joyously. He hooted the affirmative and commenced bouncing off the walls, literally, for his pride of Hermione getting his name right. 

"Come here, come here!" She yelled, trying in vain to catch him out of the air. "How'd you get here, stupid? Where's Ron?"

She sighed and sat on the backrest of the couch, watching him bounce around. Up until this point she'd forgotten about Draco, but even now she thought of him only fleetingly, as she had to catch Pig and get him down. She suddenly realized what to do, disappeared into the kitchen, and came out a few seconds later with a pasta strainer. She hopped back onto the back of the couch and, teetering alarmingly, attempted to scoop the owl up with it. This might've worked had she taken gymnastics at all, but unfortunately she hadn't. She miscalculated the distance to the damned bird and shrieked as she lost her balance and nearly went to the ground, but threw herself sharply back the way of the cushions, ending up straddling the back. She blew a curl of chestnut out of her hair and glared contemptuously at Pig, who, if anything, seemed to have gotten giddier.

"Having fun?" She turned sharply to her left, squealed again, and toppled sideways to the ground. Of course, not before Draco, (who had been standing in the doorway smirking, watching her through most of this) ran over and scooped her up an inch from the ground. She blushed furiously as he waited for her to sit up. 

"I got 'im." Draco said slowly, watching Pig fly. He climbed on the couch far more gracefully than Hermione did, squatted and watched Pig for a few seconds before… 

"HOO!"

… Jumping up and grabbing him lithely out of the air. Pig hooted, annoyed, now getting a bit low on energy.

Hermione was still red as a Weasley as he handed her the owl. His hand closed around hers as they made sure Pig didn't get away. He smiled warmly at her, but she didn't see as she looked for a place to set Pig. With lots of qualms she set him in a large desk drawer. He didn't seem to mind, but there were the usual Piggish banging sounds as he went about the drawer, doing his Piggish exploring.

Hermione opened another drawer, got out a roll of parchment, and a quill from the pencil holder on the desktop.

Dear Harry- 

_                I'm so sorry for writing you at the Dursleys', I know they hate it, but this is so important. First off, did you see the news reports on the Dark Lord's attacks? One was in North Carolina, where Ron went. We haven't heard any news from him, but Pig just came here as you can see. Did he take Pig with him? Do you think they're stranded, and that's why Pig didn't have a note? I doubt pig could fly all the way from America, don't you? … I'm so scared Harry._

_                The next news- and you wont believe it, I'm serious. I'll bet you anything you won't._

_                Here it is- Draco Malfoy's at my house. Something happened to him, he was mugged in the park across my street. He has amnesia and can't remember a thing. Not anything. He came to the first house he saw and it was ours. I came back from Ron's the moment he was going to sleep on the couch last night. He had told my parents his name was Neville._

_                Please Harry, I need your help. Like I said, I don't think Pig could make it all the way to America, could you see if Hegwig would go? I don't know what's going on. Obviously Draco doesn't either._

_                Do you have any advice? Does Sirius? Oh, yes, please ask Sirius, he must know what to do! And he keeps tabs on wizarding affairs more than either of us could. He's at Professor Lupin's too. Lupin could help with Draco's amnesia.Hurry with a reply. Unless you want to send Hedwig to America and Pig to Sirius and Professor Lupin. Or maybe you could send Hedwig to Lupin and have him-_

"Hermione?"

"What, Draco?"

"I think he'll get the point."

Hermione bit her lip. "Sure. Okay." She crossed out the last sentence and added '_Love, Hermione_' at the end, smiled softly at Draco and said "Ready?" wearily as she placed her hand on the handle.

He nodded and grabbed the owl as he went off like a shot and sat on Draco's chest, glaring up at him nefariously. Draco looked down at him nervously, but handed him to Hermione, who tied the note to his little leg and hurled him out the window.

"Hermione?"

She stared out the window, her fingers barely touching the warm glass. "Yes?"

"I… I hope he's okay." Draco shifted, hands in his pockets, looking so much smaller than she'd ever seen him before. "And…. And, I'm… I'm sorry… for stuff I did to you. Before." He smiled uncomfortably.

She closed her eyes and for some reason felt close to tears. 

"I… Er, Are you okay?" he took a step forward and brushed over her shoulder with his fingertips, making her shiver. She nodded without speaking. Slowly, so slowly, he leaned forward, and just like last night, expectation fluttered somewhere over her heart, making her loose her breath. Her eyes were still closed, but it was so silent she tell by the soft sigh so close to her cheek that he was hardly an inch from her now.

She waited again… Just like last night… A tear rolled down her cheek at the same time his lips grazed it.

"Draco." She finally managed.

"Hermione?" he murmured softly into her ear as he dotted her cheek with kisses.

She was now truly crying. Her little sleep, Ron, Harry, Pig, and the surge of hormones as Draco touched her transformed her breathless exhilaration into a feeling like she was about to vomit. She made a small sobbing sound and he pulled his head back, and hugged her. Over the night his touch had gone from awkward to steady, consoling. He held her tight, and she cried. She cried a lot.

He held her waist and patted her hair, kissing the top of her head gently. He wondered how he hadn't fallen in love with her before, and she wondered what in God's name she was thinking. 

*******

Harry, unlike his friends, had been having a rather uneventful summer, as summers had been ever since his third year at Hogwarts. The high points were right before he went to bed, when he could write to Sirius or Hermione or Ron. The low points were the hours after that, and the dreams… oh god, the dreams…

Ever since he ad left Hogwarts, he'd had recurring nightmares, horrible nightmares that left his scar aching like a bruise for days. It was as if he'd been tied to Voldemort on a string that inverted the Dark Lord's emotions… whenever he killed, Harry knew it, it shot him out of his dreams. Now he was hearing more voices. The cries of newly killed witches and wizards, or innocent children, screaming out to him. Of course they were only screaming but to Harry, and his hero's heart, he heard them screaming for him, and every goddamned day he spent in this house it hurt more that he wasn't with Sirius or Dumbledore, trying to make this better.

It was one of these dreams that made him shoot up, nearly ramming his eyes into his knees, shivering and shivering in a cold sweat.

He breathed deeply, slowly, trying to catch his breath, catch that lump in his throat from coming out. He opened his eyes as wide as they could go, trying to escape the images of green flashes of light. Finally, very slowly, he reached blindly behind himself to the bedside table for his glasses and settled them on his nose.

Scratch scratch scratch scratch.

Harry turned his head to the window, next to which Hedwig was sitting in her cage, glaring evilly at the tiny owl banging on the window happily. Pig. Yes. 

He went over to the window and opened it a little, grabbing Pig out of the air as soon as he shot through the small opening, at stared at the sheet of parchment, folded so meticulously. This wasn't from Ron.

Pigwidgeon was quickly let loose in Hegwig's cage, much to her distaste, as Harry shuffled over to the bed and read the letter. 

About halfway through, he stared back at Pig in the cage, who hooted happily at him. Harry sat back up and put the letter on his lap before finishing.

This was bad. This was very, very, very bad. "Fuck" about summed it up, as Harry decided. Of course he believed Hermione, but she'd put responsibility on his shoulders. Not that he wasn't accustomed to this, he thought as he took Hermione's note and a quill and added

What do you think, Sirius? Sending Hedwig to America to see if Weasley's are OK. Tell you first thing I get. Does Lupin have anything on amnesia? 

_-Harry_

He attached this to Pig and threw him out the window before the owl could cause any trouble, then took a new piece of parchment and wrote-

Ron- 

_                Just wondering if you're alive and whatnot._

And now that he sounded nice and stupid.

                _Hermione heard a news report about Dark Lord in North Carolina. Hope to god you're all right. Please send note. If Hedwig comes back without anything we're sending Sirius after you on motorcycle._

_-Harry_

*******

Back in America, Nancy Bennet was showing the Weasley kids around her house. There were three bedrooms. One was Nancy's, for she was a single mother, and the other was for her daughters, Brooke and Halie. Halie was seven and loud, Brooke was thirteen and at basketball practice.

"This is your room… Ginny, if you'd like to stay in the girls' room, I'm sure it will be less crowded in there." Nancy smiled and pointed down the hall. She'd learned their names amazingly well, and she could already almost tell Fred from George. It usually took normal people years to do this, and some of their best friends still got them confused.

Ginny nodded. Halie grinned widely and stood in her chair, nearly flipping it over as she leaned on the reclining back. "She can do my hair and we can play barbies! I've got _all_ of them!" She yelled.

"Oh you do not. Most of them were mine anyway," called a voice from the kitchen, and a girl with long blonde hair in a ponytail and a blue and white shirt on came in from the kitchen. She eyed the Weasleys.

"Brooke, this is… Ginny, Ron, and… Fred and George. They're staying with us." 

Brooke stared at her mother. "Why?" She finally said, with a bit of an edge in her voice.

Nancy gave her daughter a look, then turned back to the kids. "You guys get yourselves settled in, okay?" she suggested softly, then marched forward to Brooke and dragged her into the kitchen. Halie, who was still standing over the back of the recliner, laughed loudly and screamed "Brooke's in trouble! Brooke's in trouble!" gleefully.

Ron stared after Brooke, the tops of his ears turning pink, and the twins and Ginny all tried not to laugh at him. Halie squealed as she noticed this and screamed "George _LIKES_ Brooke!" and cackled in classic second-grade fashion.

"My name's Ron, he's George." Ron finally managed, blushing furiously and trying to hide inside his tee-shirt.

*******

*******

And that's it. Sorry, hons, but that's all that came to my little mind and I went with it, thinking if I didn't update soon I'd fall out of it, and I'd hate to now. Thanks so much for the reviews, you all kick the shizne. This is a good thing, by the way. For god's sake, tell me if it gets too fluffy, I'll be sure to put lots of gore in the next chappy… ^_^;;; or not. ANYway!

Specific thank yous to Chapter Four Reviewers (aww, you have your own proper noun now!!) Whom I forgot to put in the last chap: JudgeDP, gataca, Ryn, chica, Oreo of Love (mmmm), Emaeleigha (damn I rule), Draco's Queen, peanut butter cup (drools), Holly, mercy, err… Other Holly!, AngelzGaze, *takes a deep breath*, MedEvilElephants (mwa hah hah), and Mae!

Chapter Five Reviewers: Padfoot's Girl, Kstar74, Leanne, dljewel, AngelzGaze again (yay!!), Chrissy, Draco's Queen again (repeat reviewers win Jiww's heart), CharismaBrianne, Mystah (you too!), Icy Stormz, Li-Chan, Erin, sjcw99 (checks back and forth several times upon spelling this), Long de Yungi (Lady Jiwwy. Jiwwy likes.), JudgeDP (33), blood thirsty (MORE MORE'S!), Flipacoin (err, this chapter ain't that good then, is it? *fluffs up story*), someone, dragonprincess, PiriMalfoy, Draco malfoy's girl (oooh, plot twist), Delphi (333 to you too)!!

I wubboo revooers.


	7. The D/Hr Anthem- "Glycerin"

A/N- Might be a while before next chapter, please amuse yourselves by downloading the D/Hr Anthem (thanks to my kinda beta-reader Wookey for forcing me to download this, mwa, sibling kissies)--

*******

**"Glycerin" By Bush**  
Ode to Draco and Hermy 3

*******

  
Must be your skin I'm sinking in  
must be for real 'cause now I can feel  
and I didn't mind  
it's not my kind  
not my time to wonder why  
everything's gone white  
and everything's gray   
now you're here now you're away  
I don't want this  
remember that  
I'll never forget where you're at  
don't let the days go by  
  
glycerin

glycerin  
  
I'm never alone  
I'm alone all the time  
are you at war  
or do you lie  
we live in a wheel  
where everyone steals  
but when we rise it's like strawberry fields  
  
if I treated you bad   
you bruise my face  
couldn't love you more   
you got a beautiful taste  
don't let the days go by  
could have been easier on you  
I couldn't change though I wanted to  
could have been easier by three  
our old friend fear and you and me  
glycerin__

glycerin  
don't let the days go by  
glycerine

don't let the days go by

glycerin

glycerin

glycerin

glycerin

bad moon white again

bad moon white again

and she falls around me  
  
I needed you more  
when we wanted us less  
I could not kiss just regress  
it might just be  
clear simple and plain  
that's just fine  
that's just one of my names  
don't let the days go by  
could've been easier on you, you, you  
glycerin

glycerin

glycerin

glycerin

*******

Thanks for the reviews!!

Chapters Six/Seven So Far:  Emaeleigha (omg i 3 ur revoos i wish i cud revoo like u ^_^;), Ryoko, Draco's Queen, Holly, JudgeDP, Hermione-granger, Chrissy, Caswy (^_^;;;;), Mae, Kearie, Trippinwithcats, JudgeDp (mm, déjà vu), AngelzGaze, Holly and Emaeleigha (ooh, more déjà vu!!), Sara-chaan, oreo of love (sidles closer), Piri Malfoy, badgrrrl, Lavender, and the Crazy People (review whores it up)!!!****


	8. Popcorn and False Snogs

*******

**Chapter Eight**

*******

"Hermione, we're home!" 

Hermione looked up from the television. She and Draco had settled on the couch and, with minimal awkwardness, she'd settled her head on his shoulder and they ate popcorn and watched cartoons and music videos. Actually, _he_ ate the popcorn, and he ate a lot of it. He seemed to like it almost as much as cereal.

Anyway, at the second they heard the back door in the kitchen open, Hermione jumped to the other side of the couch and motioned to the dozens of kernels surrounding Draco in a little popcorny pen, and he shoved all of them in his mouth. When it was safe, she called, "Hiya, mum, living room!"

Lorelei came in with a smile. "Did you kids have fun?" Draco nodded, mouth full and cheeks poofed out, wishing he'd have just put the kernels back in the bowl. "Carl only had one other appointment and said to come and check on you two."

"We're fine, just been watching the telly," Hermione motioned to the screen, where a group of cartoon babies were trying to get to a cookie jar. "I think we need more microwave popcorn."

Lorelei leaned up against the couch and noticed Draco's large cheeks. She laughed. "Hungry, are you Neville?"

Both the kids looked dumbfounded for a bit before remembering that was Draco.

He munched the popcorn for a while and finally answered, "No, ma'am, we've been eating _cereal_. It's good."

Hermione smiled and looked away.

"That's very nice, Draco!" Lorelei smiled too. "Now, do you remember anything yet about before?"

He shook his head. 

Lorelei bit her lip. "One of my patients today was a doctor, she said there wasn't a really certain cure, just either bump your head again or treat you like you were treated before. But we can't do that now, because we don't know how you were normally treated before." She shook her head as if to clear it. "Well. Do you guys want dinner, or are you full on popcorn and cereal?"

Draco looked at Hermione for the answer. She shrugged. "Dunno about him, but I'm fine." Draco nodded in agreement.

"Okay then, I'll go and make dinner for your father and I. Tell me if you need anything at all, Neville." Lorelei got up and moved into the kitchen.

As soon as she was gone, Draco looked at Hermione hopefully.

"No." She said immediately.

"You didn't even let me ask! … You didn't even know I was going to ask you anything!"

Hermione kept her eyes on the babies. "What were you going to ask." She stated, more than asked him.

He looked at her sideways. "I was going to ask if you'd treat me like you did before."

"Oh." She looked back at him the same way and leaned against the armrest of the couch. "I can't do that, Draco."

"Hermione, this is my _memory_ here."

"And this is something I'm not going to do. I can't treat you like that now."

"Like what?"

"Draco, when we knew each other in school…" she sighed. "Let me put this as nicely as I can- you were the most annoying, insensitive bastard I'd ever met."

He stared, and then nodded once, slowly. "Oookay."

"That's nicely," she reminded him. "And. As I know now… you aren't. I can't treat you like that anymore," she repeated.

"… Oh." 

She took some popcorn, not looking at him.

"So. I'm not a bastard now?"

"As much as Harry or Ron would hate to hear it, no. You're a really nice guy, Draco Malfoy."

"… Thanks, Hermione. I suppose."

She finally met his eyes and smiled. _How long will she be in there?_ Draco mouthed. She giggled and shrugged, and he moved closer to her side of the couch.

*******

Ginny sighed happily and leaned back in the huge recliner. After a long evening of shrieking, squealing, and Barbie dolls, Halie was put to bed at ten. Reluctantly, to say the least.

Brooke Bennet looked up from a muggle fashion magazine through bored-looking, heavy-lidded eyes at Ginny's sigh. "Try living with her," she mumbled.

Ginny cracked a smile and watched the front cover of the magazine. Huh, the girl on the front wasn't moving at all.

(A/N: Ginny has been to Hermione's, but according to ME, all the pictures in Hermy's house move too. *nods*)

"What, don't they have magazines in England?"

Ginny tore her eyes away from the girl. "Well, erm. Not that one. I don't think."

"Here, I've already read the whole thing." She threw the magazine to Ginny, who stared at it for a few seconds, then opened it. The pictures captivated Ginny. The images were frozen, yes, but they all seemed to still show stories. About halfway through there was a section without stories, it was just pictures. She liked one especially, a girl leaning over a counter, smiling at a boy. The boy had messy black hair and strong cheekbones. The girl had soft auburn hair and a pretty smile (They were both dressed very trendily). 

Ginny's heart jumped at the similarity between the boy and Harry. And the girl… Ginny smiled serenely to herself.

Brooke stared at her. "What are you looking at?" The blonde stood up and knelt next to Ginny's chair. "Ah, I know, he is cute isn't he."

Ginny nodded without saying anything when a sudden realization came over her… She was in America. Without money or an owl? What would happen if Hermione didn't get their letter? What could she even _do _when she got it?

"Hey, are you alright?" Brooke arched an eyebrow at Ginny, who'd leaned back in the recliner and started breathing heavily.

"Mmhmm." Ginny mumbled, but she'd gone pale too.

"Are you tired?" Brooke shrugged her shoulder a little as if all this being nice was making her uncomfortable.

"I… I guess." 

"Okay then, come on, get up, you're sleeping in my room… In here, come on."

Brooke herded Ginny into the room while Ginny was still thinking about whether she was tired or not. She finally decided, okay, she was, after Brooke got a cot out of the closet and set it up. In a few minutes there was a he, lumpy comforter over Ginny and a soft little pillow under her, and a few minutes after that she was asleep.

*******

"Fred, George, Ron? Time for breakfast," Nancy peeked her head in the room. Fred snorted loudly and rolled off his cot. Nancy smiled softly at the boys. They were really very sweet. She'd given them two cots and a bed, but they'd insisted on three cots, she supposed one of them didn't want to be one up on the other brothers. (Really though, Ron had taken on the twins in a pillow fight, saying they were both all the same anyway so he should get the bed because he was different. The twins thought this was an outrage and quickly showed him his place, but then decided they would never decide between who should get the bed)

(A/N: WHAT!? My family has a lot of cots TOO!)

"Oy Fred, look at Ronny!"

Both the twins awoke right away and laughed heartily at Ron, who shook his head with sleepiness. "Wha- what's wrong, 'zit a fire, a flood, Charlie?"

The twins cackled and held up a mirror (strategically placed, it must be said) to Ron, who had lipstick kisses all over his face.

"Ron, where have you _been?_ I mean, we knew you _liked Brooke_ but you hardly know the girl!"

Ron blushed scarlet so that the kisses were brilliantly camouflaged. "I- I- I didn't! I didn't do anything!" He stared, horrified, up at Nancy, who stared back. "I swear!"

Fred held up a wand where Nancy couldn't see. "They're not gonna come off for a good twenty-four hours, I'd wager.

Ron pushed him over.

*******

Harry didn't get much sleep the next few hours. Finally at about six in the morning he fell asleep, but was woken around eight by Hedwig. She didn't have anything in her talons.

*******

Oooooooo, it's all mysterious and whatnot!

Thanks sososososososososososo much to the reviewers!

Including- but not limited to: FireballFlier, Jenna Malfoy, Caswy (don't do that), Emaeleigha (aw, no you aren't), Wookah (there, recognition, happy? 3)

*wipes a tear* I wubboo all.****


	9. Ginny Freaks + a Bit from Moony and Padf...

*******

**Chapter Eight**

*******

At breakfast Brooke kept staring at Ron out of the corner of her eye, but of course this wasn't the kind of staring Ron would have liked to be subjected to, especially from her. Fred and George made no move to explain the kisses, indeed they pretended they weren't there at all, like 'good' little children trying not to laugh at a dirty joke they aren't supposed to understand while their parents are standing right in front of them.

(A/N- I just watched the first few seconds of American Pie 2 with my mother with a very straight face before she kicked me out of the room. *sigh*)

Ginny only cocked an eyebrow and glanced at Fred and George when Ron entered the room before getting what had happened.

The table sat in silence over their pancakes for a good five minutes.

"Mom! What's George doing with _lipstick_ on his face! He's not a _girl!_" Halie suddenly shrieked, hurling most of her upper body on the table, pointing at Ron in an urgent need to single him out.

"My… name's… Ron." Ron looked so horrendously mortified even Brooke felt a bit sorry for him, but George and Fred let out huge barks of laughter. 

"I love this girl!" Fred breathed, his eyes going misty as he watched Halie shrug and go back to her pancakes. "Let's take her back to the Burrow."

Ginny, who'd been smirking at Ron, suddenly gasped shakily.

"Gin… I'm sorry." For once in his life Fred looked regretful as he sputtered his words. Ginny nodded fervently and returned quickly to her own pancakes, but missed her mouth with her fork as she shook.

Brooke and Nancy bit their lips, but Halie, full of tact as usual, yelled, "What's the Burrow?"

Ron spoke quietly, eyes on his plate. "That's our house. In Britain."

"Oh." Halie said loudly. Fred took Ginny's hand, trying to comfort her. This was about as comfortable to him as it was to Draco Malfoy.

"It's _okay Fred._" Ginny said forcefully. She snapped her hand off the table to her lap. "I'm not a child."

"I know that Ginny, I'm trying to help…"

"I don't need your help…"

"Ginny…"

"I don't! I'm fourteen! I can handle things on my _own_ dammit!" She slammed her chair against the wall as she stood up. Tears were brimming in her eyes. "I can handle things! I know in my first year I didn't do so well, but this is different Fred. We've never been on our own; I can handle it just as well as you can! Just get off my back!" She stormed out of the room, and the Weasleys gaped at one another. Everything was silent again.

***

Hermione- 

_                Not good, Hedwig's back already… she doesn't have anything. I'm so sorry._

Harry 

The day after Draco discovered the joys of popcorn, Hermione sat, staring at the note Hedwig had just brought to her, her hand shaking. She glanced at Hedwig as her eyes welled up with tears. Hedwig clucked soothingly, hopped to Hermione's shoulder, and bit her ear comfortingly.

Draco came in from the kitchen with a bowl of cereal in his hands. The boy could eat. He'd only been there two days and already Lorelei had had to go for more Froot Loops and extra-buttery microwave popcorn. "Waswrong?" He said through a mouthful, his eyebrows knitting in concern.

Hermione held up the letter and sat back down on the couch. She set it down and put her face in her hands as Draco leaned over the back of the couch and read Harry's spindly scrawl. He blinked. "Er. That's… bad, right?"

She nodded slowly, not taking her face out of her hands.

"I'm sorry."

She nodded again, and then froze. "Wait. There's no… there's no way."

She suddenly jumped up and went to the other side of the room, stopping at the bookshelf. She picked a book out and carried it over to the desk, already flipping through it before she sat down. It was an encyclopedia, the O. "Says… A great horned owl can fly as fast as 40 miles an hour. There's no way Hedwig can fly far faster than that."

Draco nodded, very slowly. "Yes. Okay."

"There's no way Hedwig could have flown to America, back, and then to my house in… twelve hours! Totally impossible."

He stared.

"Ron may still be alive, half-wit!" She was starting to look quite exasperated.

"_Oh_!" She sighed and smiled sideways at him then started another note.

_Harry-_

_                No way Hedwig got to America. She knew she couldn't make it and probably turned back. Now how will we get to know if they're there or not? Have you heard from Remus or Sirius?_

_Love, Herm_

_P.S. Draco's fine. Has a cereal fetish._

*******

Sirius brushed his hair out of his eyes and grimaced slightly as he leaned over the paperwork covering Remus Lupin's desk. Dumbledore had asked the pair to try to get the Order of the Phoenix- a group of select Aurors chosen as Voldemort gained power years before- back together, a task that proved far harder than either of the men had first suspected.

Just looking at all the old names brought back memories of before Azkaban. They were horrible times, yes, but Sirius took pride in them. He, Moony, Prongs, Lily, and Wormtail had all been selected when they graduated to join the Order. Before then they'd all only heard legends about this group. Supposedly Dumbledore headed the Order when it was founded in 1942 to battle against Grindlewald. After 1945 not much was heard of it, and especially the Marauders didn't think much of it.

Anyway, it took three years of difficult training… While Voldemort gained power himself, these newest recruits worked hard to be Aurors. Neither James nor Sirius had wanted to be one, they were both quite intent on playing Quidditch for Britain, but Dumbledore easily convinced them to join the fight, alongside the Longbottoms, Fletcher, Figg, the Bones, and the other great wizarding names of the time.

A year after their training was over Lily and James were murdered.

_No Sirius, farther back. Not so close._ He sighed again. "Lupin, I can't find Arabella anywhere, I think she's disappeared."

"Cabby?" Lupin peeked into the room with two mugs of coffee. 

Sirius laughed. "Yeah, her. Can you believe how much we teased her?"

"We? Don't you mean you Sirius? I swear you were the most immature Auror I'd ever heard of." Sirius grinned. 

"Why thank you, Moon-" 

Sirius was caught short by a loud bang against the window and a faint 'hoo?.' The men exchanged looks and Lupin went to the window. He reached out to the ground and his hand came back with a gray ball of owl fuzz that had a beak. 

"Hoo!" Pig announced joyfully. He bit Lupin's finger, jumped out of his hand, and commenced in the finest owly routine he'd done so far, a quite amazing series of skipping, jumping, and much waving of the wing and spinning of the head. Quite a sight to see. He'd most likely been working on it the whole time since he'd left Harry's house.

After a few minutes he collapsed on the desktop, apparently very pleased with himself, and let go of Hermione's note.

The men stared at the owl. Sirius started to applaud when he recognized the owl. "That's the one I gave to Ron Weasley two years ago!" Pig hooted half-heartedly. Lupin took the note from Pig and read it aloud…

"Oh my." He said quietly when he finished reading. "… I haven't heard anything about Molly or Arthur, have you?" Sirius shook his head.

"I do think… that there is a certain potion that could fix Draco's amnesia… It's so complicated though." Lupin went over to the bookshelf. Like Hermione, he seemed to like having a nice store of books available in every room. He flipped though the pages of a particularly long one, mumbling to himself. "Yes. Yes, here it is."

"Wait, what exactly are we going to do?" Sirius watched Pig's chest heave up and down as he said this. Every time he exhaled a soft hooting sound emitted from him. Rather cute, if not very annoying. "We've still got to get everyone back together."

Lupin thought. "Okay. I think… You Apparate to America and see if the Weasleys are alright, and I'll have to go to Hermione's to see how Draco is and see if I can get this potion done. We can send him to Dumbledore explaining the break."

"Sounds good." Sirius mumbled. "But I really don't think he's going anywhere soon." Sirius poked Pig with his wand and jumped as Pig hopped up quite suddenly and started flying around the ceiling. Lupin and Sirius exchanged looks again before Sirius called "Accio Owl!" and Pig flew to his hand like a hyperactive paperclip to a magnet with a loud, angry hoo.

*******

Tanky Spanky to the _Super Spanky Fun! Chapter 8 Reviewers_: GameGirl (x8 ^_^), Lavender, FireballFlier, porkypop (x8 again ^_^), Tamer_Gal, Mae Noelle (mmm), Holly, Badgrrrl, oreo of love (… THAT'S IT! *eats* *looks innocent*), Emaeleigha (YAY!), and Slytherins R Sexy (*titter*)!!!

3 x 3,149,238,471,723,658,172,368,597,126,348!! 


	10. Moony and Padfoot to the Rescue

*******

**Chapter Ten**

*******

Rain poured over the small wizarding settlement. A few dozen American mediwizards and Aurors were about, knocking on doors for information and searching through the rubble of the late Virginia Weasley's residence. 

Sirius appeared in the middle of the scene with a soft pop.

"Who the hell are you and what do you think you're doing?" Yelled a witch, who seemed to have been looking through the ruins nearby. "Don't you know the law?"

Sirius stiffened, he wasn't used to getting yelled at by cute, but tiny little witches. "I'm from Britain, actually, if there's any laws I don't know-"

She stormed up to him and glared up at his face. There was at least a foot difference between them. "The law that states, 'No Apparating within five miles of a site with a high Dark Magical aura.' It's international!"

"Wh- what d'you mean?" 

"Why the hell are you here if not to investigate the Weasley murders?" She shrieked. Sirius wondered to himself how someone so little could hold so much air in their lungs before her words hit him.

"I- you mean… The Weasleys _were_ murdered then?"

"_Yes!_ Do you _mind_ telling me who in God's name you are?"

"Er, Remus Lupin, of the British Ministry of Magic." Best not to tell her his name, as he was still internationally known as a convicted murderer and whatnot, "Do you know… how many of the Weasleys were here, at the time…?"

"We've found three bodies so far." The witch seemed to have calmed down, and spoke with deep regret. "Arthur Weasley, his wife Molly, and his mother Virginia. The Dark Lord was gone by the time anyone knew what had happened."

Sirius furrowed his eyebrows in thought. "Wait, only Molly, Arthur, and Virginia? I happen to know that Arthur's four youngest children came to this house with them."

"Well _we_ haven't found them." She glared at him, as if daring him to say she did any less than what anyone could in finding the Weasley children. "The chances they could have escaped are phenomenally small, you must know that Mr. Lupin?"

"Yes. I know. Quite agree… however, I must be on my way." _Damnit, how will I explain this to poor Harry? _He started to back up, but she glared threateningly at him.

"No Apparating. Five miles." She said through gritted teeth. 

"Right, I know, I know." He looked around. To the east was a road. "I'll just be going then." A walk wouldn't be too bad.

*******

Only ten miles away, in Brooke and Halie's room, Ginny Weasley sat braiding her long scarlet hair, crying silently to herself, for many reasons. One was Fred. He'd made her realize the sickening truth- they had no means to go back home. She knew it had been unintentional, but only the mentioning of the Burrow… she sighed and closed her eyes, not daring to let the tears fall. Second, was how weak she'd been. Just the thought of how she'd overreacted at breakfast made her feel nauseous. She was the youngest, she was the only girl. Why, every time she tried to get a little equality, did she always blow her self farther away, to be more emotional? More immature?

_Pitiful worries and woes—how her brothers _tease_ her, how she had to come to school with secondhand robes and books, how… how she didn't think famous, good, great Harry Potter would _ever_ like her…_

A disembodied voice, like a memory from a dream of a memory, sifted into her thoughts.

Who was that?

'What am I going to do? I think I'm going mad…. I think I'm the one attacking everyone, Tom?'

The same voice… mocking… her… Tom.

Tom Riddle.

Second year…

The chamber…

Voldemort.

She sobbed again, then pushed her head into the pillow, praying that no one came in. After a few seconds she raised her head slightly and glanced out the window.

That man was wearing wizarding robes.

***

"Hermione?" Remus tapped on the locked door of the two-story house he'd been told was home to the Grangers. "Mr. Granger?" He stood there for a while, waiting. "Bloody good." He glanced around and finally decided to look in the large picture window…

Draco Malfoy sat asleep on the living room couch. Remus tapped the glass. The boy stayed still.

Taptaptap.

He twitched very slightly.

TaptapTAPTAPTAP.

He rolled over.

TAPTAPBAMBAM.

He sat up and glared as he looked around. Remus gestured towards the door and Draco nodded sluggishly and went to open the door. He wasn't great on security.

"'Lo?" 

"Draco? You've grown."

"Who're you?"

"I'm your old teacher, Professor Lupin. Hermione asked me to help you?"

"Ah. That's nice." He went back to the couch.

Lupin stared. "Where's Hermione?"

Draco stared back. "Oh, she's in the shower."

The man cocked an eyebrow. "And her parents?"

"Work." Draco just now noticed his expression. "I- I haven't tried anything."

He didn't sound convincing.

A door at the end of the hall opened. Hermione peeked over in the direction of the couch. She couldn't see Lupin from her point of view. When she was sure Draco wasn't looking, she dashed silently from the hall towards her bedroom clad in a big green towel, and a foot away from the door she screamed in surprise as she finally noticed Remus. He'd only now noticed her too. 

"P-P-Professor!" She sputtered before dodging into the room without another word.

Lupin cocked an eyebrow again, and Draco patted the cushion next to him. "Wanna watch the television while we wait for her then? It's fun." 

*******

**Mmm. Short. Not too much plot… just a lot of cliffhangers. But that's how we like it, isn't it? Shortshortshort… I'm running out of ideas, I think it might be over soon. *sob* This is my favorite fic I've written.**

**Awww! People are still listening to my babbles!**

**Thanky Spanky to: Lavender, Fyredra, Dasani (bes ore-ij-en-ul and smert), RebeccaSL8, Caswy, Jasmine Shragen, Emaeleigha (yay!!), FireballFlier (poor sick thing!), Mayleesa, oreo of love (I- I'm sorry… *shifty eyes*), G*Ness (mmm), porkypop, li-chan and badgrrrl!!**

**You guys are… spifferific!**


	11. Everyone Found- Whether They Like it Or ...

A/N: I think Ginny's remembering her second year because that was another time when she was in a deep blue funk of helplessness. *sniffle* That's what I do when I'm feeling bad! Be mean to myself and remember times I felt worse! Yah, I'm an optimist!

***

Chapter Eleven

***

As Hermione closed the door to her room, a sudden realization hit her. 

Lupin was here to give Draco back his memory.

Things would be… normal again.

She clutched the towel to her chest tighter. Wait, this shouldn't be such a big deal, should it? There was no way she could like Draco, right?

_You don't like him, dear Hermione,_ a voice in her head said.

_You love him._

_***_

"Ron!" Ginny yelled, watching the man as he walked down the street. He had long black hair and billowing black wizarding robes. "Ron get in here!" He'd be gone soon. 

The doorknob jiggled, and someone pounded on the door. Ginny sighed and unlocked the door. Ron came in and she went back to the window, pointing out the man to him.

"Ha ha! It's Sirius! Sirius!" Ron looked near doing a Piggish dance.

"Sirius?" Ginny watched him bounce around.

"Yeah! Harry's godfather!" Ginny cocked an eyebrow but Ron was already long gone.

***

Sirius was still deep in thought when a sudden bang shocked him out of his own mind. "Ha ha!" sounded a familiar laugh. Sirius looked around and couldn't believe his eyes- Ron Weasley. "Ron! You were… where were you! I've been looking for you! Where are your brothers and sister… Harry and Hermione are so worried!"

"We escaped, the muggle lady took us in!" Ron bounced up to him like a Great Dane that hadn't quite noticed it wasn't a puppy anymore. "We thought we'd be stranded! That girl in there, Sirius, she's _gorgeous_!"

It was just now that Ron's excitement seemed to fade, along with the red coloring from his face. Well, not all of it. Sirius sniggered. "I- I can see you think that, Ron." Ron looked very confused, then put on a face of supreme embarrassment as he remembered the kisses. "It… Fred and George… they…" Sirius just shook his head. It wasn't like he and Remus hadn't done the exact same thing to James right before he went to ask Lily out… He smirked and let Ron lead him in the house. The twins were in the kitchen alone with a little girl who couldn't have been more than eight, and a pack of Exploding Snap cards, talking to the girl in hushed voices.

"Mommy there's a man in the house he's in the kitchen he's a murderer he'll _kill meeeee!_" The little girl ran out, squealing like a baby banshee. A few seconds later a slim woman with dyed blonde hair entered. She cocked an eyebrow at Sirius, obviously checking him out. He definitely didn't mind. "Do you boys know him?" She asked to the twins (quickly packing away the Exploding Snap deck) and Ron. 

"Yeah, yeah! He's my friend's… godfather." Ron said quickly, not feeling up to turning Sirius into a more stable savior. 

"Oh." Nancy said, nodding quietly. "Will you be taking them home, mister…?"

"Black. Sirius Black," Sirius answered in the same overemphasized English accent Fred had used upon meeting Nancy. She smiled. "And yes, I think we should leave soon. There are a lot of things to sort out back home."

"It's strange though."

"Yes?"

"How did you know they weren't with their parents so quickly? Surely you couldn't have gotten a plane to America that quickly?"

Sirius just blinked. "I have connections." He said weakly. "Er, get your things, boys… wasn't… um, the… girl…"

"Ginny's in the other room," Ron finished for him quickly.

"Right. We'll be off." The boys left. "Sorry for the trouble," he gave Nancy a responsible-guardian smile.

"Not at all," she answered happily. "Those kids are very nice. Would you mind… do you know what happened?"

Sirius coughed loudly. "Er, I… really… don't." He bit his lip. Nancy understood.

***

In the other room, Brooke slipped a sheet of notebook paper in Ron's bag with her e-mail address on it without his noticing.

***

Back in England, Lupin had borrowed Hermione's cauldron and a lot of her potion stores. He'd been brewing for a few hours when he realized he needed dragon claw filings, and had to Apparate to Diagon Alley. He'd be back before Hermione's parents got home at five o'clock, and the potion could be finished by ten that night.

Hermione had tried to help Lupin for a while when he first started, but there really wasn't much to do, so she went to watch television with Draco again. 

"Hermione?" He asked as soon as Lupin popped out to Diagon.

"Yeah?" she reached into the popcorn bowl they'd set in between them. Empty. Of course. Neither wanted to cook any more, so they left it and Draco chewed on an unpopped kernel to ease his cravings.

"Do you think… I _should_ get my memory back?"

"It would be for the best," she answered, like a teacher, or someone else that tells you things no one likes are for the best.

"You don't want me to."

She sighed. "Of course I don't. But you need it back, you're sick. Get more popcorn."

"You. And I don't think I want it back either."

"Well, we've already got Lupin here, and I asked you first."

"Lupin doesn't have to do it, now get me popcorn!"

"That's why it's best if we just let him make the potion, and get the popcorn yourself!"

Without warning he leaned over the popcorn bowl and grabbed her hand. "I want things to stay the way they are, Hermione."

"I do too, Draco."

He put his forehead to her temple and whispered in her ear. "It won't last, Hermione. Something's going to happen."

She turned her head and stared at him, confused, and then he suddenly kissed her. His mouth tasted like copper, it was scary, it was blood. He must have been biting his tongue for a while. He was sure about this change. He was scared, she could tell. In the past few days she'd seen a lot of parts of Draco she never thought she ever would, but being scared was an entirely new thing altogether. She'd never imagined he had the capability to be scared.

She pushed the empty popcorn bowl off the couch and scooted closer to him, never letting their lips part. She touched her hand to his cheek, he was feverishly hot. "Draco?" she murmured "What's… wrong?" but he just kissed her again, wrapping his arms around her waist and hugging her like she was his only anchor to keep him from falling away from life itself.

"I terrify myself, Hermione." He said after he quickly broke it off.

At that second Lucius Malfoy thundered into Hermione's living room.

_***_

Thanks for reviewing, everyone!

Super Hyper Funderful Chapter Ten Reviewers: G*Ness, Caswy, Saman, RebeccaSL8, JudgeDP, Draco's biggest fan, Krissy, Rachel Hunt, A Writer (end of chapter one, when he fell off the couch, and yes, he really did have amnesia since then), Oreo of love (*giggles*), Emaeleigha (if you must know, I spelled it right the first time and added it to my spell-checker) (*ist smert*), AngelzGaze, TrippinwithCats, Weasley-Gurl, Mayleesa, porkypop, badgrrrl, SuNnY GuRL (hard to type), FireballFlier, and TheLostGirl.

Eeek! *realizes how long that paragraph is, babbles happily* 333!


	12. To Hermione- "Fearless"

*******

**"Fearless" by Matthew Good Band**

To Hermione from Draco

*******

  
Is there anything that I need to say   
that hasn't been said before   
I have been polite for too long   
why should I be anymore

  
Better now than never, better loud than clever   
better just to play the fool   
it's times like this   
when you just close your eyes and kiss   
cause everything after this   
is just bullshit and being cruel   
so hold me up, I'm going out   
and don't wait up, I won't be coming home   
  
if you lay me down in concrete fields   
will I dream of grass and opera   
this is the sound and how it feels   
to be dead   
  
In the end there will be fire and brimstone   
and no one will be there to answer the telephone   
you are the only one I'll miss   
you are the only answer at a time like this   
she is the trick of my trade   
she is the thing that can't be made   
she is gold and nothing less   
and she is fearless   
so hold me up, we're going out   
and don't wait up, we won't be coming home   
  
You hold it in your hand   
you keep it in your heart   
you hide it in your head   
and you use it when you have to   
she is the trick of my trade   
these are the things that can't be made   
stay yourself and nothing less   
_stay fearless_

*******

Thanks for the reviews everyone!

Everyone being:  JudgeDP, Aubbah, Chaw, A Writer, Emaeleigha, oreo of love, badgrrrl, G*Ness, porkypop, Seamus Finnigan, Trippinwithcats, michee, and Wookah, the amazytastical beta reader who doesn't mind when I put the fic up before showing him. ^_^


	13. The End

A/N: Draco faked it for the first chapter, but at the end of the first chapter, he hit his head on the coffee table when Hermione came in and really did get amnesia. 

*******

**Chapter Twelve**

*******

Sirius talked to Nancy in the kitchen for a while while the Weasley kids packed up their things and said goodbye to the girls in the house. Nancy made tea.

"You know," she said conversationally as she poured some tea for him, "those kids in there, are they a little, well, off, I guess you could say?" She poured her own tea as he arched an eyebrow.

"How do you mean?" 

"Well, I don't know. They just seem a little different. Like, they asked me for a bit of parchment when I first saw them. And Fred always carries a _twig_ in his pocket."

"A heh heh… he does, does he?"

"HI!" Halie bounced into the room. "I'm just a little girl and I'm just getting some pop so don't kill me okay?"

Sirius stared.

Halie stared back. "_What?_" She demanded, and made her way out with the can of Pepsi, singing a pop song loudly to herself.

"…Wow." Sirius stared after her for a while.

"You get used to it," Nancy said as she took a big swig of tea. "I'm starting to."

***

"Draco, what in hell were you thinking?" Lucius snatched the boy right off the couch by the front of his shirt and lifted him five inches off the ground with unnatural strength. Draco had the most pitiful look of terror of this man that he, for all he knew, had never seen before. Lucius didn't notice Hermione at all, or if he did he didn't acknowledge her presence. She was after all, just a muggle.

"Please… put me… down." Draco's eyes widened and his face went red. His head was swimming. Lucius threw him back on the couch.

"And what is this, then, Draco? Did I interrupt a romantic interlude, then?" Lucius only glanced at Hermione for a second, but that one look sent shivers down her spine. "Run away to meet her, did you, son? A muggle? Or maybe a _mudblood?_ Have I taught you nothing?"

"I- I- I don't-"

"We're going home. You're mother isn't talking me out of a whipping this time, you're taking this too far." Lucius grabbed a handful of his shirt again and started literally dragging him to the door. Draco sent Hermione a look full of so many different emotions; every single one got to her heart. _Pop._

"Lucius, put the boy down this moment."

Remus suddenly appeared four feet in front of Lucius, his wand in his face before Lucius could even register the appearance.

Lucius glared but stopped and threw Draco to the floor, just where he had landed between the couch and coffee table when Hermione entered the living room two days ago. Hermione scuttled to the other side of the couch, away from Lucius, and stared at Draco. He was unconscious.

"If it isn't the _werewolf_!" Lucius feigned surprise as well as Draco faked amnesia. Remus poked his wand at Lucius' chest. 

"Lay one hand on that boy and I'll call the Ministry. I don't doubt both the Office of Magical Abuse and The Daily Prophet wouldn't have a field day."

Lucius hadn't yet twitched under Remus' wand, but now he let the slightest bit of composure fall away, for only the smallest moment. "Try it Lupin, you know I know what you have to hide," he said through gritted teeth.

"Try me, Malfoy, you'd be surprised what a werewolf can do even out of lupine form." Remus arched an eyebrow back.

"I am taking my son." Lucius turned around to grab Draco off the floor, but as he turned around he tripped on the fallen popcorn bowl and fell on top of the coffee table.

*******

Ginny chewed the side of her mouth thoughtfully as the Knight Bus took off into the afternoon sky back at the wizarding settlement where all this started. She and Ron had gotten beds on the back end of the third story of the triple-decker. She looked out the window, where she could see the Bennets' house fall away from them as they floated away. Nancy had stopped them as they left, inviting them to come back whenever they wanted. (Nancy had then looked up at a grinning Sirius and winked)

Fred and George, who had taken upon themselves more pressure than they'd ever let their younger siblings know about, had fallen asleep from exhaustion (and lack of interesting things to do, as they'd given little Halie their Exploding Snap deck). Sirius was also enjoying the ride and free beds.

Ron sat on his bed across from Ginny's, playing with the latch on his backpack.  "Not tired, Ginny?"

"I guess not. What about you?"

He clicked his backpack open and closed once more. "I'm beat, but… I dunno, just restless."

Ginny nodded. "They were really nice, weren't they? The Bennets… How many people would take in four teens they'd never seen before and give them a place to stay, for free?"

He sighed. "I guess we were lucky they found us, eh?" He suddenly stopped playing with it and opened a folded sheet of paper. "What's this?" He murmured to himself. Ginny held out her hand and he tossed it to her. In very loopy, flowery handwriting was written, 

_"My e-mail—_

_bball_brookie1996@adams.net"_

"My e-mail?" Ginny cocked an eyebrow. "It looks like gibberish. What's b-b-a-l-l?"

"Dunno." Ron took the paper and threw it away in the little trashcan next to every bed. "You know, that Brooke was a really nice girl, too…"

**(A/N: Happy, are you, Em? ^_~)**

*******

"Stupefy!" Lupin yelled as Lucius fell to the ground. He turned to Hermione and shrugged a little. "Bit too drastic maybe… don't be telling the Ministry I did that, okay?" She nodded and smiled. "Do you have parchment, I'll just be sending this to the ministry then… Did he say anything to you?" 

Hermione opened the parchment drawer but shook her head. "Not to me, he said he'd whip Draco though."

Remus took the roll from her and set it on the desk. He dipped a quill in a bottle of ink and wrote out a note, then took a safety pin and pinned it to Lucius' robes. "Child Abuse. He'll have to go on trial…" He took his wand out of his pocket again. "Do you have floo power?"

"Mmmhmm." She handed him the little jar but he didn't take it. "Toss it in when I say." He turned back to Lucius with his wand. "Mobilcorpus." Lucius jumped up and glided along in the same way Snape did in her third year. She grinned at him and Lupin winked. "Now!" Lupin said. She tossed the Floo Powder in right before Lucius glided into the fireplace. "Ministry of Magic!" Lupin called over Lucius' shoulder and Lucius disappeared.

***

"Draco."

_No, I don't want to get up. Go away Dobby._

"Draco, are you okay?"

_That's not Dobby._ Hermione placed her hand on his forehead and bit her lip at the heat. "Professor, he isn't waking up." She turned to Lupin, who tapped his wand on Draco's forehead.

"Eneverate." 

"No, I don't want to…" Draco moaned, but the spell forced his eyes open. Lupin immediately started questioning him, making sure his amnesia wasn't worse. "What's your name?"

"Draco Aidan Malfoy."

 DAM? Hermione thought to herself, but didn't say anything. "Wait- how does he know his middle name?" She wondered aloud.

"I don't… wait… I do know… I got my memory back! Haha!" He jumped up. Lupin stood too, but Hermione stayed down on the ground.

"Where's Father?" 

"I sent him to the Ministry on account of his threatening to abuse you." He shrugged. "That was all Hermione and I could think of. If you want to add any other charges, by all means go ahead, because I'm rather sure his stash of Dark Arts materials is getting him into Azkaban for a bit anyway."

Draco stared. 

"Well, you can testify for him if you'd—"

"No, I'm just thinking. If I can't get in trouble for that stuff, that's the best news in a long time. " He suddenly grinned wider and held a hand out to Hermione. "Need help up?"

"Well, I was just thinking… are… you, I mean… we…" She shot a glance to Lupin and immediately went red. Remus took his cue to go and make more popcorn.

"Just because I remember who I _was_ doesn't mean I've forgotten what you've done, Hermione." Draco said immediately, taking her hand in his. They both sat down on the couch and he kissed her cheek. 

They stayed that way for a while, when Draco finally ended the kiss. "What happened, though?"

"Nothing much, just… Lucius dropped you, and Professor Lupin and he growled at each other a while. Lucius tripped on the popcorn bowl and Lupin made sure he was out good, wrote a note, and sent him off." She shrugged and smirked uncharacteristically and kissed him for once, wrapping her arms around his neck and stretching her arms like Crookshanks on Carl's big pillow he wasn't supposed to lie on. It felt so totally wrong, but in such a right, right way.

*******

Fin 

*******


End file.
